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The Planned Parenthood Action Fund today launched a multimedia campaign to highlight the essential primary and preventive health care that Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers provide to millions of Americans in communities across the country every day.

The multimedia campaign, which includes a cable TV ad, Internet ads, and outreach on social networks including Twitter and Facebook. The ads deliver the message that more than 90 percent of the care that Planned Parenthood community health centers provide every day is primary and preventive including wellness exams, cancer screenings, immunizations, contraception and STD testing and treatment – making Planned Parenthood health centers essential community providers of care.

The multimedia campaign includes videos from patients and providers and grassroots advocacy, is part of an aggressive effort by Planned Parenthood to put a spotlight on the critical importance of access to affordable, quality care, including reproductive care, for women and their families.

“Women’s health care must be a priority. As a trusted health care provider, Planned Parenthood knows firsthand how critical it is to expand access to health care, including reproductive health care,” said Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards. “Planned Parenthood has more than 850 affiliate health centers across the country, providing primary and preventive care. Every year, they provide nearly one million cervical cancer screenings, more than 850,000 breast exams, contraception to nearly 2.5 million patients, more than three million tests and treatments for STDs, including HIV, and nearly 50,000 colposcopies.”

According to a recent report by the Guttmacher Institute, more than six in 10 patients who receive care at a women’s health center like Planned Parenthood consider it their primary source of health care.

“Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers are part of an essential network of community providers that serve as a critical entry point into the health care system for millions of women. For many of these women, the only doctor or nurse they see is one they visit at a health center like Planned Parenthood. Often times, women come into a center for information and end up seeking preventive care that could potentially save their lives,” said Richards.

During the economic downturn, more and more women are turning to Planned Parenthood as a trusted provider of essential health care. Planned Parenthood centers have seen an increase in patients who’ve lost their job and/or health insurance and are looking for high-quality health care.

Women of childbearing age spend 68 percent more in out-of-pocket health care costs than men, in part because of reproductive health-related needs. One in four women who receives contraceptive care does so at a women’s health center. One in six women who obtain a Pap test or a pelvic exam does so at a women’s health center, as do one-third of women who receive counseling, testing or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

That’s why Planned Parenthood believes that health plans participating in any health insurance exchange should include community health providers like Planned Parenthood in their network. This type of protection is a fundamental part of solving provider access issues that will come with expanding coverage.

“Planned Parenthood is part of the solution in fixing America’s broken health care system,” said Richards. “Planned Parenthood health centers have been a trusted provider of essential, preventive care for more than 90 years. Those who come through Planned Parenthood health center doors know they will get quality care at affordable costs. That’s what we all should be striving for as we work to reform our health care system.”